Trivia Time

Which city did President Jefferson hope to acquire before making the Louisiana Purchase?

Test Your Knowledge

purchase

American  

[pur-chuhs] / ˈpɜr tʃəs /

verb (used with object)

• purchases,
  present (3rd person singular)
• purchased,
  past participle,  past
• purchasing
  present participle

1. to acquire by the payment of money or its equivalent; buy.

   Synonyms:

   procure, obtain, get

   Antonyms:

   sell

2. to acquire by effort, sacrifice, flattery, etc.

3. to influence by a bribe.

4. to be sufficient to buy.

   Twenty dollars purchases a subscription.

5. Law. to acquire (land or other property) by means other than inheritance.

6. to move, haul, or raise, especially by applying mechanical power.

7. to get a leverage on; apply a lever, pulley, or other aid to.

8. Obsolete. to procure, acquire, or obtain.

---

verb (used without object)

• purchases,
  present (3rd person singular)
• purchased,
  past participle,  past
• purchasing
  present participle

1. to buy something.

noun

• purchases
  plural

1. acquisition by the payment of money or its equivalent; buying, or a single act of buying.

2. something that is purchased or bought.

3. something purchased, with respect to value in relation to price; buy.

   At three for a dollar they seemed like a good purchase.

4. Law. the acquisition of land or other property by means other than inheritance.

5. acquisition by means of effort, labor, etc..

   the purchase of comfort at the price of freedom.

6. a lever, pulley, or other device that provides mechanical advantage or power for moving or raising a heavy object.

   Synonyms:

   capstan, winch

7. an effective hold or position for applying power in moving or raising a heavy object; leverage.

8. any means of applying or increasing power, influence, etc.

9. the annual return or rent from land.

10. a firm grip or grasp, footing, etc., on something.

11. Obsolete. booty.

purchase British  

/ ˈpɜːtʃɪs /

verb

1. to obtain (goods, etc) by payment

2. to obtain by effort, sacrifice, etc

   to purchase one's freedom

3. to draw, haul, or lift (a load) with the aid of mechanical apparatus

4. to acquire (an estate) other than by inheritance

---

noun

1. something that is purchased, esp an article bought with money

2. the act of buying

3. acquisition of an estate by any lawful means other than inheritance

4. a rough measure of the mechanical advantage achieved by a lever

5. a firm foothold, grasp, etc, as for climbing or levering something

6. a means of achieving some influence, advantage, etc

Synonym Usage

See buy.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpurchase
  noun
• nonpurchaser
  noun
• prepurchase
  noun
• prepurchaser
  noun
• purchaser
  noun
• mispurchase
  verb (used with object)
• overpurchase
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-purchased
  adjective
• unpurchased
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• purchases
  plural

Participles

• purchasing
  present
• purchased
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• purchase
  simple
• purchases
  simple
• have purchased
  perfect
• has purchased
  perfect
• am purchasing
  progressive
• are purchasing
  progressive
• is purchasing
  progressive
• have been purchasing
  perfect progressive
• has been purchasing
  perfect progressive

Past

• purchased
  simple
• had purchased
  perfect
• was purchasing
  progressive
• were purchasing
  progressive
• had been purchasing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will purchase
  simple
• will have purchased
  perfect
• will be purchasing
  progressive
• will have been purchasing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of purchase

First recorded before 1150; (for the verb) Middle English purchasen, from Anglo-French purchacer “to seek to obtain, procure,” from pur- (from Latin prō pro ¹ ) + chacer “to chase” ( see chase ¹); noun derivative of the verb

Explanation

When you purchase a pair of shoes, you buy them. If you want to gain purchase, or favor, with new friends, you might tell them about your recent purchase of chocolate, and offer to share. Purchase can refer to the act of buying or the thing you bought. In 1803, the United States paid France approximately $15,000,000 for 800,000 acres of land which was called Louisiana, in a transaction known as the Louisiana Purchase. In this transaction, the purchase nearly doubled the size of the U.S. — the territory purchased comprises about 23 percent of current U.S. land.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

purchase purchases purchased purchasing

The purchase gave Musk’s company a platform for beaming data to cellphones from space using its own reserved frequencies rather than through airwaves licensed from partner T-Mobile.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Chema Andres, 21, looks to be another astute summer purchase in midfield after Baleba's departure.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

I tracked down two New Jersey record stores whose sites said they’d purchase all types of albums, so we carted ours to them.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Months later, it launched its service in the United States, offering some 300,000 titles for purchase.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

He did not seem interested in trading his purchase with Rasseem, who had set up his tent nearby.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

That would be double the $2 billion acquisition deal announced by Manus and Meta in December -- one of the biggest purchases in the Facebook owner's history.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Industry officials said most consumers—who buy bottles for $20 or less—have cut back on their purchases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

It is not clear how many chips Oracle is looking to finance, but purchases of Nvidia chips for a 1 gigawatt data center would cost tens of billions of dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In total, the federal government has now spent nearly $3.2 billion on detention facility purchases, the majority of them in California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

I rolled down my window and said, “Didn’t Josephine the banker tell us not to make any purchases for six months?”

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green

Keaton purchased the home for $6.6 million in 2021, offloading it just a year later for $7.9 million after finishing renovations.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

He has given $20,000 to the group, which has conducted environmental research, purchased newspaper advertising and hosted events.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Becerra’s father later began a construction career that lasted 30 years, while his mother worked as a clerical worker and later purchased rental properties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

As part of his plea agreement, Iza agreed to forfeit several items purchased as part of the conspiracy, including two Mercedes-Benzes, a Ferrari and dozens of luxury handbags from Hermes, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

I purchased a ticket from the kiosk man.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

"In addition, stocking for new technology products and the approach of the year‑end peak purchasing season in China and in Europe and the United States will all help support Taiwan's export momentum."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

But on social media, influencers and doomsday "preppers" are pushing the necessity of purchasing a $300 kit claimed to help people avoid emergency room visits.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Borrowing costs rising alongside worries about government finances and purchasing power can be a warning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

According to the court filing, part of the scam included hiring an interior designer and purchasing $40,000 worth of kitchen appliances for one property.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Mass purchasing power makes the big difference. For example, breaded veal cutlets.”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Related Words

• acquire
• earn
• invest
• pick up
• procure
• redeem
• shop
• take